Or, do you believe Government is the Highest Power and has the ability to grant and revoke rights to individuals and to create arbitrary law?
There are only 3 ways for a Government to get money. They can tax, they can borrow or they can print.
When the Government taxes, they demand our money through income tax and thousands of direct taxes, fees and charges.
Our Founding Fathers knew and understood human nature, and built the Republic and our Constitution as an aggressive and timeless force against tyrannical power and greed. The separations of power and the structure and flow of Government was made clumsy and slow ON PURPOSE - to protect our liberties. The Founders WANTED it to be frustratingly difficult to make major changes to the American Republic.
I am sure that you have heard the term before, and probably gave it cursory thought, laughed it off and moved on about your life. But let's give it just another few minutes of consideration - and then evaluate how much of your life this simple rule affects.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the American banking industry was experiencing some problems. First, they were adhering to a strict gold standard which required that the money of the day was backed by a physical gold reserve and one could take dollars to a bank and redeem them for actual gold.
In the strictest sense of the term, it literally means that average global temperatures are on the rise. The term in no way inherently implies that man has caused this warming to occur (although it has become synonymous with this supposition – just ask your neighbor...or your kids).
It is important to understand that the earth has gone through heating and cooling cycles since the beginning of time!
Educate the Electorate!
Can You Afford Universal Health Care?!
Your Representative will be voting on a Health Care Reform bill soon.
Do you know what is in this bill? We have been reading it so you don't have to! Over the next few days and weeks we will highlight sections of this wonderful piece of legislation. We thought that we would start with something simple, but straight to the heart of the matter.... the Premiums for the Public Plan.
The way Universal Health Care is being "sold" to the American people gives the impression that it will be FREE. There has been no discussion of Premiums, only discussion of subsidies.
There are several sections within HR 3200 that make it very very unlikely that you will be able to keep your current insurance for any length of time. The government will now MANDATE that you must carry insurance by penalty of the IRS. But, not just any insurance, it must be an "approved" plan. The Government imposes more mandates on current Insurers that will put further price pressure on their products and force many or most out of business. There are also some "built in" incentives for businesses to drop coverage for their employees and force them onto the Public Plan. The penalties that a business must pay for NOT ensuring their employees is significantly less than it will cost to keep the insurance, so it will be a matter of economics. This also allows the Government to get more money because they get the penalty from the employer and the Premium from the displaced employee.
Without getting into any of the coverage specifics in this article - let me just point out the PREMIUMS that you will be responsible to pay. Each year the Government will set the maximum Premium for Basic Coverage (there will also be 3 additional tiers of coverage available, but Premiums were not included). The amount each person will be required to pay is based on your family income in relation to the current Federal Poverty Level. Families making less than 4 times the poverty level will be subsidized. All individuals and families making more than 4 times the poverty level will be required to pay the full premium, no matter how high it goes. The maximum Premium set for Year 1 is $10,000. The premium will be assessed and collected through an expanded IRS code and will most likely be deducted directly from your paycheck or paid monthly if you are self employed.
Below we have added created the Premium Pricing matrix for a Family of 4 and a Family of 2 for the first 2 years should HR 3200 be enacted as it is written now. The data was taken from Section 243 of HR 3200 ( http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/text ) and uses the current, 2009 poverty level numbers (http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml ) Basic Plan
(lowest level government plan – imagine how much the premium plans must cost!)
| Household Income for Family of 4 | Year 1 | Year 1 Premium YOU PAY | Year 2 | Year 2 Premium YOU PAY |
| Below $29,299 | 0% | FREE | 0% | FREE |
| $29,300 - $33,000 | 1.5% | $495 | 3% | $990 |
| $33,001 - $44,100 | 3% | $1320 | 5% | $2200 |
| $44,101 - $55,125 | 5% | $2750 | 7% | $3850 |
| $55,126 - $66150 | 7% | $4620 | 9% | $5940 |
| $66,151 - $$77,175 | 9% | $6930 | 10% | $7700 |
| $77,176 - $88,200 | 10% | $8800 | 11% | $9680 |
| $88,201 and above | N/A Full Price | $10,000 | N/A Full Price | ??? |
And.... If that is not enough - how about a family of 2?!?
| Household Income for Family of 2 | Year 1 | Year 1 Premium YOU PAY | Year 2 | Year 2 Premium YOU PAY |
| Below $18,810 | 0% | FREE | 0% | FREE |
| $18,811 - $21,700 | 1.5% | $315 | 3% | $630 |
| $21,701 - $28,940 | 3% | $867 | 5% | $1400 |
| $28,941 - $36,175 | 5% | $1800 | 7% | $2520 |
| $36,176 - $43,410 | 7% | $3010 | 9% | $3870 |
| $43,411 - $50,645 | 9% | $4500 | 10% | $5000 |
| $50,646 - $57,880 | 10% | $5700 | 11% | $6270 |
| $57,881 and above | N/A Full Price | $10,000 | N/A Full Price | ??? |
CATO Health Care Solutions
Todays Poll
What is your current Health Care Insurance status?
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